In a keynote address that saluted the work of supply chain professionals, Ravi Dosanjh, head of strategic programming for Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), said participants need to understand the value they provide and ask the right questions to ensure a seamless experience for all.
“The right balance of capacity always plays a role and is critical to manage carefully, given the current environment. In my view, the question is, ‘How do we manage that capacity in an appropriate way?’” Dosanjh said during his address opening Day 2 of FreightWaves’ Global Supply Chain Week virtual conference on Tuesday.
At Intel, he said, supply chain professionals are always asking:
- How do we plan?
- How do we mobilize?
- How do we manage risk?
“How well we do that in an intentional way comes down to how well we know our end-to-end supply chain,” Dosanjh said. “If you don’t have that deep, real-time insight, you are going to make less informed decisions impacting raw materials, inventory, transportation capacity and leading to risk related to the wrong amount of slack in your network.”
Global Supply Chain Week features content dedicated to all things supply chain. The virtual eight-day event is being streamed for free on FreightWavesTV. Register for the event here: https://live.freightwaves.com/global-supply-chain-week. Days will be dedicated to various verticals within the supply chain, including military/aerospace; manufacturing and building/construction; food/perishables; CPG and retail; energy/oil and mining/chemicals; automotive, and maritime.
Dosanjh’s keynote on Tuesday focused on big-picture management approaches to the supply chain. He noted that Intel produces 10 billion transistors every second and is intimately involved in the processes that move the global supply chain.
“Our purpose is to create that world-changing technology that drives all of those exciting transformations we are seeing today — many of which, by the way, positively influence supply chain improvements,” he said in his introduction, before diving deeper into the current state of the supply chain and best practices.
“From my perspective, we need to get used to [disruption],” Dosanjh said. “We need to train those muscles to deal with it, and we need not look back at the good old days but embrace the future and uncertainty.”
He noted the continued evolution of everything that touches the supply chain, including technology, infrastructure and transportation capacity, but quickly added that it’s an example of “be careful what you ask for.”
“You’re not lobbying for a tracking system; you’re not lobbying for a machine learning tool; you’re not lobbying for a control tower. You are driving the assurance of a deeper understanding, a deeper level of visibility, and a way to ensure predictability and control within your supply chain.”
Ravi Dosanjh, head of strategic programming for Intel
“What was once back office is now front and center,” he said. “Now that we are all in the spotlight, we have to be fearless, we have to go further than before, we have to hit every pitch that comes our way and become enablers on the path to supply chain excellence.”
It starts with treating people correctly.
“Supply chain has been running on adrenaline fueled by people, and organizations that have historically put people first have been leaders in supply chain resilience and supply chain excellence,” Dosanjh said. “We should continue to acknowledge all of those talented folks in the ecosystem and continue to prioritize their education, their ability to be efficient and their supply chain dreams.”
When pushing for tools to improve the supply chain, Dosanjh said to remember for what you are advocating.
“You’re not lobbying for a tracking system; you’re not lobbying for a machine learning tool; you’re not lobbying for a control tower,” he said. “You are driving the assurance of a deeper understanding, a deeper level of visibility, and a way to ensure predictability and control within your supply chain.”
Dosanjh also said that deploying the right capabilities at the right time is not about reacting, but about continually assessing your supply chain and building this approach into your culture. It also requires anticipation.
“There are so many chances in the retail environment, driven by enhanced shopper expectations, new technology and improved capabilities, while also being accelerated by the pandemic,” he said. “The need to understand and anticipate that butterfly effect is not something we just want to do — it’s something we really have to understand.
“From the impacts of capacity and supply line costs of airfreight, to the 62 ships anchored in San Pedro Bay, to the volatility of domestic transportation, our group has to continually ask ourselves, ‘How have the numerous disruptions impacted our strategies in the segment? How have the numerous disruptions changed the way we view what we own and what we influence? How have the numerous disruptions created opportunities previously unseen, or maybe previously unprioritized,” he added.
Doing so will lead supply chain professionals into the right space for success.
“This forces us to look at things differently,” Dosanjh said. “It’s not about how well global supply chains can do some predefined things for you, it’s about how we can address any challenge that comes our way.”
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Brian Straight.
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